Farm to Cafeteria Canada Releases New Report
Posted: October 10, 2013
Categories: Food in the News / Good Food Ideas for Kids / GoodFoodBites / News from Sustain Members
Farm to Cafeteria Canada, a national network formed in 2011 that promotes and supports farm to cafeteria programs, policy and practice, released a new report today stating that Canadians are hungry for local food. The report is based on a first of its kind nationwide survey conducted in 2012 of activities taken by Canadian schools, universities and colleges, and healthcare facilities to provide local food. The report describes the methodology for the survey, summarizes the results, discusses their implications, and provides recommendations.
The Farm to Cafeteria Press Release proclaims that “activity to bring healthy, local and sustainable foods into public agencies is gearing up in almost every province and territory in Canada – and there is a hunger for more.” However, the report, titled Local Foods: Canadian schools, campuses, and health care facilities speak up, also found that there were many barriers. Some key findings:
- The results showed that identifying funding for activities around local food was a top need with 47% of school respondents listing it when asked, “What assistance is most needed to further develop or maintain school activities around local food?”. On the other hand when asked, “What were the most important factors that helped activities around local food get where they are now?” 47% of schools responded that they had dedicated staff or volunteers!
- With regards to policy, a whopping 72% of school respondents said that there were no policies or contracts in place that addressed the use of local food in their schools. In fact in all three settings (schools, campuses, healthcare facilities) policies were the least developed. The report found that “campuses and healthcare facilities were more likely to have policies or contacts on local food (33% and 29% respectively, versus 14% for schools).”
- The report also found that “respondents in all three settings identified that they wanted to increase awareness and promotion of farm to cafeteria activities. This included increasing awareness and promotion of activities already in place.”
This report presents a timely opportunity for participation in the current round of Ontario’s Farm to School Challenge. For the month of October, educators can share how they have incorporated local food into their school food program by posting to our Facebook page, tweeting at us @ONFarm2School, or sending an email to kids@sustainontario.ca. With Ontario’s Farm to School Challenge well on its way, we invite you to join us for a second webinar on October 15th at 3:30pm. We will address barriers to farm to school implementation and possible solutions to challenges faced thus far, with this new report serving as a reference point.
Register for the webinar!